Polestar 5: dignified touring coupe for e-car drivers in a hurry

Polestar, formerly a tuning and racing division of Volvo, is increasingly pursuing its own path. Both are part of the Chinese Geely Group, but with the new four-door coupe, Polestar aims to definitively distance itself from the other Swedish brand.

The Polestar 5, which celebrates its world premiere at the IAA in Munich, is unlike any other Volvo model. The shape of the 5.09-meter-long touring sedan is reminiscent of both the Polestar 4 electric SUV coupe and the brand's first car, the Polestar 1, a plug-in hybrid. It was modeled on the 2020 Precept concept car, from which the Polestar 5 differs only slightly.

The sedan's silhouette features a flat windshield and a roofline that curves to the rear. The headlights each consist of two angles, as seen on the 3 and 4 models. Like the latter, the Polestar 5 lacks a rear window, but does have a glass roof that extends to the rear seats.

The interior feels correspondingly light and airy. Thanks to a long wheelbase of three meters, there's plenty of room in the front seats and the two individual seats in the rear. A third rear seat can be created by folding up the rear center console, but its comfort is only sufficient for short journeys.

The ride is very comfortable for four people. Thanks to good sound insulation and a chassis with adaptive dampers, traveling becomes a relaxing pleasure. And since the drive battery is installed in the underbody but has recesses near the rear seats, seating comfort is good thanks to generous footwells.

Despite the lack of a rear window, the ride is also pleasant for the driver. In the Polestar 4, the rearview mirror is simply a screen that displays live images from the rearview camera. However, those with long-sightedness or progressive lenses will find this of little use. Furthermore, the images are two-dimensional, making it difficult to accurately judge distances to the rear.

In the new sedan, this problem has been alleviated. Although the rearview mirror is also a screen, the flat windshield and the lower position of the screen allow the driver to see a fairly clear image even without reading glasses.

The Polestar 5 may be a luxury touring sedan, but it relies entirely on battery power. Two versions are available, each with two electric motors, all-wheel drive, and a large battery with 106 kWh of usable capacity.

To enable rapid battery recharging on longer journeys, the Polestar 5 features an 800-volt electrical system and a maximum charging capacity of 350 kilowatts. Recharging from 10 percent to 80 percent takes just 22 minutes under ideal conditions.

Initial test drives in the Polestar 5 at the large Millbrook test center in England demonstrate the capabilities of the approximately 2.5-ton electric car. While it's a high-quality touring sedan during leisurely cruising, the available car transforms into a highly sporty touring car with the Performance Package.

It features a double-wishbone suspension, the kind normally found only on race cars or supercars from Lotus or Lamborghini. This allows for high-speed cornering with great precision. A key contribution to this is the steering, which remains comfortable even with the lightness set higher and at high speeds.

Rear-wheel steering, which would improve maneuverability and cornering stability, isn't available on the Polestar 5. "We don't need it," is the laconic reply from Steve Swift, UK Head of Vehicle Development at Polestar. After about ten laps of the Millbrook mountain circuit, this is understandable.

The driving pleasure is guaranteed on winding terrain with numerous uphill and downhill sections, even in normal mode. While there are situations where the stability control intervenes with a speed reduction, switching to ESP Sport and the "Nimble" driving mode makes the car so dynamic that it could probably also be adequately handled on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The braking system, supplied by Italian manufacturer Brembo, offers excellent control and a good pressure point. In the emergency braking tests on straight roads, the Polestar 5, in conjunction with the Michelin sports tires, remains very stable. The wheels are 21 inches as standard, with 22-inch wheels available as an option.

As expected from electric cars with more than 1,000 Newton meters of torque, the Polestar 5 is powerful and confident. The electric motor on the front axle comes from supplier Bosch, while the rear electric motor was developed in-house by Polestar. This is done at Polestar in Great Britain, just like the chassis. The result is impressive.

Polestar engineers measured acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds. This performance is clearly evident in the test, especially if you trust the onboard computer display. On the high-speed lap with banked corners, the car demonstrates excellent directional stability with low wind noise.

The first Polestar 5 vehicles will be delivered in 2026. Customers can choose from the 748 hp all-wheel-drive model starting at CHF 115,000, or the top-of-the-line Performance version with 884 hp starting at CHF 135,000. The Porsche Taycan Turbo, also with 884 hp, is available starting at CHF 198,000.

The test drives were supported by Polestar.